Key Steps To Creating An Adobe Dreamweaver Web Site

Adobe Dreamweaver is a great piece of software which demystifies the business of creating a web site. However, it is also packed with a whole host of features which can seem a little daunting when you first start using the program. This article aims to explain how create a basic web site, where to start and which tools to use.

It's always a good idea to sketch out a plan of how the site will work and what kind of user experience it will offer. Dreamweaver will not give you any assistance at this stage, so just use pen and paper. Start by building a basic site, one that you know you can complete without getting bogged down in technologies that you do not understand.

Another step you should complete before you even go into Dreamweaver is to create a folder to hold all of the files which will comprise your site: the "local root folder", as Dreamweaver calls it. Don't put anything in this folder but the files relating to your site. Once you have completed your project, it will mirror the live version of your site.

Next, create a folder inside the "local root folder" which will hold your images. This will help you to avoid ending up with "broken images" on your site, where visitors are presented with an empty box instead of the actual image.

Now we can open up Dreamweaver and create a new web site. To do this, find the Site menu and choose New Site. When the New Site window appears, be sure to click on the Advanced tab at the top of the screen. Ironically Advanced mode makes it easier to select only the key options you need to enter. Of the categories displayed on the left, we will need to enter Local Info and Remote Info.

In the Local Info window, enter a name for you new site then specify the location of the local root folder and default images folder you created earlier. The easiest way of doing this is to click on the browse icons next to each of these two boxes (the yellow folder icons).

Next you need to click on the Remote Info category on the left of your screen. This is where you tell Dreamweaver how to connect to the server that contains your web pages. For a public website, choose FTP as the access method and ask your web hosting company for the other details required. For an intranet, choose Local/Network as the access method and navigate to the server and sub-directory containing your company intranet.

Before actually putting any content in your pages, you should ensure that all the pages you mapped out in your original plan have been created and saved. So, instead of creating and completing a page at a time, you create and save every single page. This will prevent the creation of links that don't work properly because, when you come to create a link, the page you are linking to will already exist; you point to it and ask Dreamweaver to create the link.

Naturally, you will want to ensure that there is some consistency within your pages with some elements that remain the same as visitors move from page to page. One of the best ways to achieve this is to create at least one Dreamweaver template. Templates contain the basic design and layout that you want each of the pages to have as well as editable regions which can be modified each time you apply the template to a page.

Once you have your template(s) in place, you are ready to start putting the actual pages. Open each of the pages, apply the appropriate template then add your content. To test our page at any time, just press F12 on your keyboard.

By: Andrew Whiteman

The author has been teaching Adobe Dreamweaver training courses for many years. He is a trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent IT training company based in London.

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